Customer Reviews

Janice VanCleave's Earth Science for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments That Really Work

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I am never disappointed by a Janice VanCleave Book!

This book lends itself well to experimenting with earth science using the scientific method. It outlines the purpose, materials needed, procedure, results expected, and explanation of results for each experiment. Experiments are included in the areas of space, rocks and minerals, movement of the earth's crust, erosion, atmosphere, weather, and ocean. The best thing is that they use common, easy to obtain materials!

I use these books in my classroom a lot!

This book is wonderful. It gives you the experiments and provides explanations for the results. I have five and six year old sons and they love the experiments from this book. I'm buying it after renewing it at the library several times.

I was hoping for experiments that I could do with my kids. The experiments in this book are really just short demonstrations. Most of the experiments are so minimal and include things like ripping a paper towel to show how some minerals have a definite cleavage line or marking on a balloon and showing how the marks expand when the balloon is inflated. I don't think I will have much use for this book.

I teach 7th grade Earth Science; even though this book is geared towards 3rd-6th grade, so many of the activities are useful demos and short hands-on activities to deepen the learning of my students.

I love the set-up of the book: it is divided into the various divisions of Earth Science (astronomy, rocks and minerals, oceans, etc) and has a TON of experiments in each section. They are all easy to do; most use materials from around the house. The few that don't use materials that are easy to find at any store. Each experiment is supplemented by a simple, yet very clear illustration, easy-to-follow steps, and an explanation of why the experiment works the way it does.

If you teach middle school, VanCleave's books are great to have!!

I purchased this book as a christmas present from my son's Earth Science teacher this year. She loved it! The teacher said, "Oh my gosh, I was able to open it to any page and easily pick out an engaging idea for my students to observe. Thank you. This is one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received from a student."

Although this book was published in 1993 (ancient for many science texts!), its experiments are highly relevant, interesting, and fun. I use them in my science classroom, and everyone finds them very easy to understand and complete. It's not like biology; earth science didn't completely evolve in the last 15 years.